Problem
Certain search combinations trigger SPARQL queries that take an extremely long time to complete — in some cases exceeding 90 seconds. During this time the UI is completely unresponsive: the browser shows a blank or partially-loaded page with no feedback to the user that a query is in progress.
Examples known to be slow:
- Town search with 'all results' selected (e.g. Plymouth, Birmingham)
- Large district or county searches with high result limits
Impact
- Users have no indication that their query is running — no loading spinner, progress indicator, or timeout message
- The browser may appear to have hung
- Automated E2E tests cannot reliably cover these journeys without very long timeouts
Suggested improvements
- Add a loading state / spinner when a search is submitted
- Consider a query timeout with a user-facing message suggesting they narrow their search
- Investigate whether SPARQL query performance can be improved for broad searches
Problem
Certain search combinations trigger SPARQL queries that take an extremely long time to complete — in some cases exceeding 90 seconds. During this time the UI is completely unresponsive: the browser shows a blank or partially-loaded page with no feedback to the user that a query is in progress.
Examples known to be slow:
Impact
Suggested improvements